Gods Companion Project

Friday, June 23, 2006

3D World magazine reviewed Open Source - August 2006

In their extensive multi-page review of the Open Source movement, the 3D industries leading magazine made the following comments:

The God's Companion project... applies open source development to content creation.

Source: 3DWorld Magazine August 2006

Our project being the world's leading virtual on-line studio is at the front of the Open Source Movie Production movement as outlined in the magazine article:

It is this sense of accessibility for all that has helped push open-source from being a fringe internet driven phenomenon into a viable commercial alternative. "This is a big change in the way movies are made," says Goyo de la Brisa who heads up the project.Source: 3DWorld Magazine August 2006

We are keen to be a stopping-off point for the professional talent of tomorrow, each skilled animator, actor or singer-songwriter looking back on the God's Companion series with fondness, each having honed his or her skill in...

The God's Companion project... Indie artists are finding opportunities to work on group projects that help them build reels which can in turn lead to professional jobs.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Open Source Movie Production & the Virtual Studio

Our Open Source Studio system is an advanced concept based on the open source software method applied to the production of animated films.We go far beyond the use of open source software, actually applying the concept of open source to the production process itself.

Animated films are software from the models and programs that create the images, the speech sound FX and music, to the finished frames per second- they are all software in bits that can be created on computers and shipped down the line through the internet using standard protocols.

So as everything is software and bits we have adopted the conventions and methods of software production applied to movie production.This is a deep and exciting project; we think we are building a new industry paradigm.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Conventions busted

In conventional film making there is filming and post-production with a finished product 'the movie' at the end that is then distributed by some, probably physical, means.

As software there is a beta stage where a selected audience try-out the software and it is improved until it seems good enough to release and then there is Release 1.0 - not a finished product, but good enough to ship. From Release 1.0 work continues and the product is 'upgraded' and identified as an improved version by being given another number, Release 1.1 or 1.2 or if it is a major improvement release 2.0That is how we release our movies, as we work on them they are tested with a selected audience (we call them beta-testers based on the software convention) and when the movie has been improved to the point where it is watchable as a reasonably polished product it is released as Release 1.0.

Being available for download (it's software remember) we continue improving it and issue the newer versions as upgrades 1.1, 1.2 etc.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Open Source and Open Call

The actual production process is Open Source, and we operate an Open Call system.Open Call is a conventional term used in theatre where anyone can come and audition for a part. We use that concept not just for actors but also for software model makers, graphics artists who do materials, sound effects creators, animators and even persons who have little artistic input but who have spare computer time and would like to render (film) the animations created by others.

To join the system a person goes to our (new) forum website and registers there explaining what aspect of the film production process he or she would like to be involved in. Then the person 'auditions' by posting an example of work (art, models, voice overs, etc).

If the quality of the audition is high enough and we currently need that ability in one of the projects we accept that person into the project and give access to a private resource that includes the details of each project. The team member can choose from the list of segments and make a claim on that by indicating which he or she would like to tackle.

If the finished work is accepted then it is edited into the project and the person gets a screen credit for the work.

As no movie is ever 'finished' it is always possible for a team member to put forward a new version of any scene and if it is accepted as being an improvement for the overall movie it will be edited in and a new release (upgrade) made.

New tools for a new movie industry

We are developing the tools and methods for this Open Source Studio system, and have not yet moved all of the action on-line, we still use mail delivery for renders due to the size of the files and also for some acting recordings if the actor isn't that clued-up on computer internet methods. Our first production, a 60 minute animated film called "God's Companion - the search for Jefratus" is now out of beta and ready for release 1.0 which is due this summer.

The people involved in the production are in America, Brazil, England, Germany, & Spain and probably other countries - being connected by internet you don't necessarily know where your collaborators are. I have only met a few of them face to face and I haven't spoken to many of the others. The process has involved lots of email and file exchange, but little conversation.

Any software can be used as long as it handles common standard files, but because we want it to be very easy to enter the Open Source Production system we have a preference for readily available low cost software. Much of this is open source, but not all of it. We use wings3D for models which is free, we use DAZ-Studio for posing and animating articulated models (humans and animals) because it is also currently free, we use Audacity and Wavepad for audio both of which are currently free and we use Bryce for landscape and machine animations because is is low priced.

The reason for using free or low priced software is because anyone can obtain it, try it and see if they like being a moviemaker without the trauma of spending a large amount of money and then finding that they don't enjoy the process.

We have nothing against higher priced software, its just that to be OPEN, we need to also be CHEAP, so that everyone can try their hands (and eyes and brains) in this fantastic new process the Open Source Studio movie production system.

(Note: Our virtual studio was featured in the August print edition of 3DWorld magazine, the leading source for 3D software artists.)

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Sign-up to the virtual studio

Each of the episodes in the series has its own website. These are normally numbered to match the episode, so that http://godscompanion1.blogspot.com refers to episode 1 and http://godscompanion4.blogspot.com refers to episode 4.

When a project is in early development the website is devoted to storylines, scene descriptions, models to be made and sequences to be animated - all of the details of how the movie is put together.When the movie project has advanced the content of the website adjusts along with those advances and gradually turns into a marketing site rather than a production site.The project is always interested in actors, animators, composers, modellers, sound FX creators, texture artists, and writers.Treat this as a place to break into the industry, create your show-reel, or make use of spare time in a project that is part of something bigger and greater than anyone can create solo.Whatever we have produced to date will be seen as the crude start of the fabulous work that we will create over the next 10 to 20 years.Join the system and you can brag how you were in near the start even if you are too late to have been right at the start.

Internet virtual movie studio and Hollywood

As featured in the August print edition of 3DWorld magazine, the virtual studio is so much more, so much more exciting, so big a change in the way that movies are made, an earthquake under the Hollywood system, a revolution, the application of computers - potentially millions of computers that are usually idle to the creation of movies created by ad hoc groups with people coming in or leaving as they have time to be involved. Persons who always wanted to do something in the movies, but have a full time job, persons who want to make a movie but can only do a small part of the whole process, persons who would like to be employed, but can't get the break.It is a way for students or job applicants to get a screen credit and exposure; it is a way for the artistic with a few hours a week to make a real contribution and see their work as part of an entertaining feature length film instead of a 2 minute short.It is a way for a movie to be rendered using computer capacity available wherever it can be found instead of having to use a render farm or running a machine for years. (This aspect is one of our aims - to put together a virtual render farm that would allow us to produce quality that compares with a big budget movie.)

Is it porn? Pornography, obscene, obsenity, sex...?

Two thousand six hundred porn searchers have downloaded scene 14 of the movie "God's Companion".

Why, is a mystery to the producers of the animated science fiction romantic comedy.

"We released early versions of most of the scenes for download so that people could see how the movie was shot and edited. For some reason a porn site has been sending people to watch scene 14," the director, Goyo de la Brisa, explains.

On June 7 seven hundred and fifty people clicked to download the scene. (The filmmakers could see that they had all come from a pornography site because the computer keeps a record of where they come from.) The next day June 8 another one and a half thousand porn seekers clicked to download the scene searching for some secret thrill.

The director and others have checked that scene, watching it several times wondering what on earth makes it of interest to pornographers, and aside from the mention of buttocks and thighs, which is hardly rude, they cannot find any rational explanation.

"If it were the next scene, scene 15 in which Hignat tries to seduce Jones I could imagine that someone might find it titillating or perhaps it would appeal in some bizarre way to some fetish, but we are completely mystified why they chose scene 14."

Get into the movies - the virtual studio

How many of us have dreamt of starring in a movie?

The rise of the internet studio system is making this possible for readers of your magazine to become part of the movie industry.

With a computer connected to the internet they can register on-line with one of the growing internet studios, where they can watch recently filmed scenes, read the script, record their performance as an actor or sound effects maker, or singer-songwriter and upload their work so that the editor can add it to the movie.

Those of your readers who would like to try their hand at animation can select an as yet unfilmed part of the movie and animate it as part of the over-all movie production.

If your magazine would like to publish a "how to be in the movies" article our on-line studio would be pleased to explain all the details of how your readers can make the most of this fantastic development in on-line services.

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Movie Projects in development, production and release

Unlike conventional movie production which has goes from development to production then post-production and release of a finished movie, our open source movie production process begins in alpha (development) moves on to Beta (testing) and then release 1.0 (a movie that is more or less complete, but subject to probable improvement, or as we call it, upgrade.)

Projects we have in development or which have been completed (oops, I mean in Beta and release 1.0) include:

God's Companion 1, which is due out of Beta Spring 2006 and has its scheduled release 1.0 summer 2006.

God's Companion 2 is currently in Beta; it needs a couple more scenes and a lot of tidying of the editing prior to its scheduled release in fall of 2006.

God's Companion 3 is in alpha, there are some fully edited scenes, but the structure is still shaky and so it needs writer input as well as animation, actors and sound FX. Could do with a song too.

God's Companion 4 is in early alpha. We have a rough treatment of the story line and some art and maybe a few video shots.

By the time you read this it is likely that there will be further episodes planned. Best check the websites for each movie. Do note that any movie close to release 1.0 has its website converted to marketing, Prior to release 1.0 the website is devoted to production.

Sunday, June 23, 2002

Contact Us

The God's Companion series of animated movies is produced by an Open Source Movie Production system which you can join to be in the movies.

We are an on-line virtual studio as featured in the August 2006 edition of 3DWorld magazine.

If you want to sign-up to the process please do so at the http://film.forumsplace.com website. There is an open call for actors (male and female), animators, singer-songwriters, sound effects creators, software model makers, texture artists (those who create the skins that go over models giving them surface art) and writers or budding directors.

In this way you can create your own showreel as part of a bigger project, or have the satisfaction of seeing your contribution in films and episodes that are available for download or may be shown on TV in various parts of the world.

If you want to contact the studio to discuss a business proposal, to do an interview or to request distribution rights please email: